A Different Beginning
by Dee Zeno
Summary: An answer to the What If Challenge on the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenge Forum. What if Snape had picked up Harry from the Dursley's instead of Hagrid. One-Shot.


**A Different Beginning**

**Chapter 1 - You're A Wizard Harry**

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**Author's Notes: **

This is written in response to the **What If…** Challenge on the Fanfiction Challenges Forum.

**The Challenge:** What If… Snape was the one sent to collect Harry from the Dursley's, not Hagrid?

**Disclaimer: **The very beginning of this comes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, written by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement intended, I just wanna play with her toys!

**Help Wanted:** I am looking for a Beta to help with this story and others. Please PM me or review if you are interested.

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_One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds … Twenty ... Ten … Nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him - Three ... Two … One …_

_BOOM!_

_The whole shack shook and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in._

Another rumble of thunder came over the shack and Harry noticed a light shining through the cracks in the door frame. As he watched, the lights changed color - red, blue, yellow, white, orange - and then the door flew off its hinges.

Recoiling from the flying object, Harry squinted towards the door. There, thoroughly soaked from the rain outside, stood a man with sallow skin and a prominent hooked nose.

The man looked annoyed, and, as the Dursley's burst into the room, Dudley ran over and hid behind his mother. Harry hadn't even realized his cousin woke up, such was the noise of the storm outside. Seeing the look on his uncle's face and the rifle in his hand - the contents of the mysterious package it seemed - Harry gulped in fear.

"I warn you," his Uncle called out, "I'm armed."

The stranger walked into the shack, sneering at Vernon and brushing raindrops off of his clothing. Harry didn't know what to call it. The man didn't seem like he'd appreciate it if Harry called his wardrobe a dress. It was too manly to qualify for a dress anyway.

As Harry pondered what to call the strange outfit the man wore, the stranger raised a stick and pointed it at the door. He muttered a word Harry didn't understand, and the door flew back and affixed itself to the frame. Muttering another word while pointing his stick at the shriveled potato crisp bags, a fire sprung up. Harry glanced a smirk on the man's face at this point.

Taking a seat on the couch, after piling all Dudley's blankets at one end, the man spoke.  
I am Professor Severus Snape. Mr. Potter, you are to come with me to buy school supplies, as it seems you will not get there without an escort."

Harry frowned, glancing at the murderous yet scared look on his Uncle's face. "Erm," he started, looking up to find Snape glaring at him. "I don't know what you mean, school supplies. Aunt Petunia dyed my uniform the other day, and my teacher said the rest of the supplies would be given through Stonewall. I-" Harry halted when Snape shot off the couch.

"Do you mean to tell me," he whispered furiously, striding over to the Dursleys, "that Lily's son knows nothing of his heritage? Nothing of what he is!" The Dursleys quivered in fear, Petunia trying to hide herself behind Vernon.

Harry, taking an insult to that spoke up. "What do you mean Professor? I'm just Harry." A glance from Snape told him to shut up, and since he found Snape scarier than his uncle, he did.

"Petunia!" Snape barked, causing everyone to jump. "You were left with a letter to tell Harry all about his mother, about himself. Did you not do that?" The Professor had advanced on Aunt Petunia, who huddled, curling into the corner, trying to separate herself from the raging man.

"Now see here." Uncle Vernon bellowed, raising the rifle warningly. "Don't think you can go intimidating my wife, you-" Vernon stopped talking as Snape raised his stick and the gun tied itself in a knot, then turned into liquid and flowed through Vernon's hands.

"Silence" Snape hissed, waving at all three Dursleys. "Incarcerous, Wingardium Leviosa." The Dursleys were bound in ropes then floated into the bedroom. Snape slashed his stick and the door slammed shut. The man then stalked over to the sofa and sat down, staring into the fire for a moment.

"Mr. Potter, take a seat on the chair. You are a human, and humans belong on furniture, not on the floor." He had still not looked at Harry at all.

Harry swallowed, not sure if he wanted to be left alone in a room with this man and his stick. He quickly took a seat on the chair, grateful for its proximity to the, now roaring, fire.

"Now then, Mr. Potter," Snape started, turning to the boy in question. He cut himself off as he gaped at the child. Swallowing harshly, at what? Harry wondered, he started speaking again. "What do you know of your parents?"

Harry thought for a moment, trying to piece together the little tidbits he had heard. Finally he replied "not much, Sir. I know that they were unemployed drunks who got killed in a car crash."

He flinched back when Snape swore vehemently. The Professor, perhaps seeing Harry's flinch, settled back on the sofa and took a few deep breaths. "That," he said, his voice tightly controlled, "is an utter lie. Your _relatives,_" Harry could hear the disdain when Snape spoke the word, "do not like what we are, what your parents were."

"Erm, Professor." Harry couldn't contain himself any longer. That was the second time Snape had mentioned 'what they were' that Harry had to know what he meant. "What do you mean 'what we are,' Sir?"

Snape gazed at Harry for a moment as if judging his reaction. Taking a breath, he replied. "We are wizards, Harry. Your parents were wizards." Harry gaped. Suddenly, the man handed Harry his stick. Harry looked down, rotating the stick in his hand. It was dark, Harry had never seen wood that dark. It seemed to have a wolf and snake carved into it. "That, Harry," Snape said, bringing Harry back to reality, "is a wand. Every witch or wizard gets one, and it is that which helps us do magic." As Harry handed it back, the wand emitted a few silver sparks, making Snape smirk.

Harry smiled, dreaming of his own wand. "Do motorbikes really fly with magic?" Harry blurted, thinking of his recurring dream.

Snape blinked, leaning forward and watching Harry intently. "You've seen a flying motorbike?"

"I dreamed of one, it's always the same. A woman screams, a laugh, a big flash of green light, pain, and a flying motorbike. Do they really fly?"

Snape nodded, leaning back. "Yes, Mr. Potter, there are flying motorbikes, though they are not common by any means." Harry's stomach rumbled then, and Snape smirked. "Mopsy."

Harry stared at him, wondering what a Mopsy was. He was just about to ask when he heard a POP and saw the strangest creature looking at him.

Snape must have seen the look on his face because he answered the unasked question. "That is a house-elf. This one, Mopsy, works at Hogwarts, the magic school you'll be attending." Turning from the child, he looked at the elf, who had yet to say a thing. "Mopsy, I'll need a small amount of food for the child, and I need you to give this to Professor Dumbledore." Harry realized Snape had an envelope in his hand. When he handed it to the elf, she disappeared again with another POP.

Harry's confusion was displayed on his face. "Your confirmation to attend Hogwarts," He said, nodding towards where Mopsy had stood. "While we are on the subject, here is the letter that you should have gotten." He handed Harry another letter, this one looked just like the letters the Dursleys were running from.

After reading the letter and glancing at the supply list, Harry grinned. He finally belonged somewhere. He didn't know how, but something in him believed all this magic talk, even though his uncle said it didn't exist. Snape cleared his throat and Harry looked up.

Sometime while he was reading the letter, a table had appeared right in front of him, loaded down with food. Gaping, Harry looked at Snape. "Eat, Harry. When you are finished, we are going back to sleep, and in the morning, we will be going shopping."

"Professor?" At Snape's look, Harry asked. "What are you wearing?"

Sneering at the child, Snape replied haughtily, "Robes. It is what all respectable wizards wear when not among muggles."

Harry decided to not ask what a muggle was and instead looked over the array of food.

Harry ate his fill, sampling a little of everything. Harry didn't know what the juice was, but he decided he liked it.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry sat back, full and sleepy. Snape waved his stick - _No,_ Harry corrected himself,_ his wand _- and a mattress with blankets appeared where Harry had laid on the floor before. After a look from Snape, Harry climbed into the pile of blankets and closed his eyes. He heard a few sounds from the Professor settling himself, then let the sounds of the fire put him to sleep.

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Harry opened his eyes to see Snape reading the newspaper. This would have been a common sight to Harry, after all, Uncle Vernon read the paper every day, but the pictures in the paper were moving.

"What is a Ministry?" Harry wondered aloud, seeing the headline.

"Good Morning Mr. Potter." Snape put the paper aside and motioned Harry off the mattress. With a flick of his wand, it was gone. Harry stared. "The Ministry is our government; it's primary function is to keep muggles, non-magical people, unaware of our world." He stood, brushing off his robes.

"Why," Harry asked, putting on his trainers, and filing the information away for later.

"Because," the professor replied, "if they knew we existed, we would be hounded to magic up a solution to everyone's problems. Either that, or they'd turn on us, declaring us evil and fit to be eradicated."

"Oh."

"Come now, we have a lot of shopping to do today. Grab my arm." When Harry didn't move right away, Snape marched up to him and, grabbing his arm, spun around quickly.

Harry felt like he was being squeezed through a tube. Just when the feeling was about to make him sick, it ended. Looking around, Harry noticed they were in a dead-end alley with a couple barrels of trash.

Not wasting a moment, Snape pulled a hat out of his pocket and slammed it on Harry's head. "Keep that on," he ordered, whipping out his wand and tapping some bricks on the wall in front of them. Harry stared in wonder as the wall faded away and was replaced with shops and people. He saw no less than a dozen pointed witch hats on the people nearby.

"This is Diagon Alley, where wizards shop in London. Stay close." Snape strode into the Alley, and Harry tried to keep up.

Noticing shops that sold cauldrons, and trunks, and owls, and brooms? Harry found it hard to keep pace with his Professor; he just wanted to explore. Snape reached out and grabbed his wrist, leading the boy steadily towards a white marble building in the distance.

Walking up the steps, Harry noticed some odd creatures standing by the doors. "Those are goblins. They run the bank." Snape released his arm as they passed through the second set of doors, pausing for a moment so that Harry could read the poem engraved on them.

He led them up to the nearest available teller's station, staffed by another goblin, and pulled out a key. "Mr. Potter would like to make a withdrawal." The goblin looked over at Harry, and sneering at the humans, pressed a button on his desk. Another goblin came over and, after a brief conversation in a language Harry didn't know, motioned them to a door.

They stepped through the door and into a mine cart. With a quick, amused, "hold on," the goblin hit a switch and the cart shot off into the darkness. Harry thought the ride was neat and tried to keep track of where they were going. When the cart did a complete flip, he decided that wasn't a very good idea, and looked at his hands.

With a jerk, the cart stopped. "Vault 687," the goblin called out, hoisting himself out of the cart. He turned the key and opened the doors. Snape again grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into the vault.

"This is yours, Harry." He said, watching the boy glance around in wonder. "Take this." Snape handed him a bag and a wallet from a table inside the doors. "This was your father's," he said, handing the items to Harry. "Fill the bag." Harry did so, grabbing a couple handfuls each of the gold, silver, and bronze coins. Tightening the string to secure the bag, he turned to see Snape already back in the mine cart. He nodded to the goblin as he passed, and sat down in enough time to see the goblin shut the vault.

After a quick but equally fearsome cart ride, they were standing in the lobby. The Professor led Harry to a different desk and waited impatiently for the goblin to attend them. After a wait that Harry could tell fried Snape's patience, the goblin finally looked up.

"Yes," he sneered, peering down at the pair.

"I'd like this changed into muggle pounds please." Snape responded, handing over a small bag of coins.

The goblin carefully counted out the coins within, weighing them on a scale. After that was done, a stack of pounds appeared on the other side of the scale, which the goblin quickly thumbed through and handed over the desk. With his task done, the goblin turned away from the pair, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. The Professor grumbled and tucked the bills into a pocket before leading Harry back into the sunlight.

Snape led Harry to the trunk shop, selecting a single compartment trunk. Harry did manage to talk the Professor into a 'deluxe' model. One that had a bookshelf part. It could hold up to three hundred books and not take up any room in the trunk. Plus, it could automatically retrieve the book you asked for without having to root through the whole shelf. Harry gaped when he found that it could shrink to a deck of cards size or expand to normal size with the tap of a wand.

Store by store, Snape led Harry around, gathering all his supplies. The wandmaker's was the oddest shop, and Harry couldn't stop staring at the wand in his hand, wondering about 'You-Know-Who.' He was determined to ask Snape later. The pair stayed a while in the apothecary with Snape suggesting extra items for Harry to buy. The longest stop though, was the bookstore, Flourish & Blotts. There, Snape had Harry buy all the essentials on his list, plus piled on a few extra books; an extra potions book, an encyclopedia of ingredients, a wizarding primer, a couple recent history books, and an introduction to politics book were all thrown on the top of Harry's stack along with multiple others. He stared at the last book Snape added, Pureblood Traditions. He wasn't too sure about that one.

After Harry had placed the books in his trunk, Snape shooed him into Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Twenty minutes later, Harry left with an armload of new robes, and grumbled about the obnoxious boy that blathered on incessantly about his wealth, and who obviously had a superiority complex.

"Mr. Potter." He looked up to see Snape leaning against a wall on the other side of the alley, a cage by his side. As Harry approached, Snape raised the cage and Harry could see a bright white owl sitting inside. "This is a post owl, a common familiar in our world. She will carry your mail for you."

"Th-thank you." Harry stammered, staring at the owl.

"Come along," Snape grabbed his arm and spun again, transporting them to some other location.


End file.
